“Our friendship with the Danes developed following a number of them visiting Norwich Cathedral as guests several years ago,” explained the Revd Canon Sally Theakston, Team Rector of the Dereham & District Team Ministry. “I was asked to host them for a day and they were very taken with Dereham most particularly our Messy Church. As a result, Jacob one of the priests asked to come on placement for three weeks. Several visits both ways followed, and our friendship has deepened.”
On Sunday 24 March a ‘Friendship Agreement’ was signed at services in both countries. The document is “a declaration of the friendship between The Dereham and District Team Ministry, UK and the Deanery of Hobro-Mariager, Denmark.” The Revd Jacob D. Krogh Rasmussen signed on behalf of his deanery.
The declaration document states that they want:
- to share information and understanding about our churches, their spiritual life, regular activities, their joys and sorrows, challenges and achievements
- to pray for these concerns both privately and in public worship as part of the same body of Christ – as written in 1 Corinthians 12,12-13, because we do need the help from each other in order to strengthen faith, hope and love;
- to inspire, challenge and assist one another in the aims of reaching out the gospel and Christian care in our local communities;
- to strengthen personal relations and contacts between ministers, employees and the members of our congregation in order to promote friendship, inspiration and support;
Jacob summed up the event: “We had two busy but wonderful and interesting days visiting our dear friends in Dereham and District where we learned a lot about the Church of England and the team ministry. On Sunday we signed our friendship agreement and I hope our friendship will last for many years to come.”